Recommended by Jared Reynolds

It's shocking how easily the average person can be manipulated; to be twisted and turned into something unrecognizable without even realizing until it's too late. David expertly lays out in this dark tale, just how quickly and subtly radicalization can occur. It really makes you think about how you may be getting influenced on the daily.

What to say about this play? Each character is so drawn out with their own histories, their own anxieties, their own mysteries, and their own drives. To witness the opening of so many doors because of one closing in such a beautifully, messy, human way is why we create art in the first place. We are not alone, we're not meant to be alone, and we can only be our best selves together; that's what Darrin Friedman illustrates so well in "The Butterfly Anchor."

What does corporate downsizing, tragic gun violence, poltergeists, and cupcakes have in common? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! Unless you're Vince Gatton! This brilliant tale is quick, coincidental, tragic, heartwarming, awkward, hilarious, weird, and a little disturbing. But you put them all together and somehow it works! Absolutely loved it!

Everything has a time and a place. But the downside of that is that if you miss the time and place, maybe it never happens. John Bavoso beautifully captures the heart-breaking reunion of two people who want the same thing but can't agree on the time or the place. To capture such a moment on stage with such fondness and personal conviction can cut to the core of any audience, as we all have those kinds of regrets where things just didn't work out. No matter how much we wanted them to.

Everything has a time and a place. But the downside of that is that if you miss the time and place, maybe it never happens. John Bavoso beautifully captures the heart-breaking reunion of two people who want the same thing but can't agree on the time or the place. To capture such a moment on stage with such fondness and personal conviction can cut to the core of any audience, as we all have those kinds of regrets where things just didn't work out. No matter how much we wanted them to.

Life is messy. Metaphorically. Sometimes literally. We are an amalgamation of our past experiences, our upbringing, and the people around us. We are also products of the times we are in; the cultural and societal complexities that are the backdrop of everything we do, regardless of what we know and what we feel. How do you encapsulate the pleasure and the shame of enjoying sex but being taught it's evil? How do you protect yourself and others when what you are is publicly despised? I don't know, but Don Baker definitely figured it out with "Best Friends." Worth the read.

With each page of Guide Me, I felt my blood pressure rise. The stress and expectations of a bad situation that you can't talk your way out of. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. A no-win scenario. Like the rest of Paul Smith's painting trilogy, Guide Me is a perfect portrait of the messy, confusing, and emotionally tumultuous thing that we call life. And sometimes we just need a reminder that we aren't the only ones doing their best to just try and hold on.

The truth will find a way. It doesn't matter how long or how painful, but the truth will out. You can run, you can hide, and you can ignore it, but you can't change it. And when you refuse to listen to what your subconscious is telling you, sometimes you just need a friend who calls you out on your bullshit. Issac is a relatable tale for all audiences and a story that a lot of youth need to hear.

One of a trilogy located in the same flat along the Thames, Happiness manages to take you through a whole range of emotions in such a short time. This short play is an excellent example of the power of controlling information: As a writer, Paul doesn't tip his hand until the end. This frames the entire piece in an entirely different light than the audience would have assumed otherwise, which only heightens the emotional impact this piece packs.

It's hard enough to sum up the history of a life-long friendship into word. It's even harder to put it on paper. Harder still to capture the intensity and passion of a friendship that nothing can break. Rachel does all of this and more in just 12 pages: compiling a lifetime of triumphs and tragedies into 6 little scenes. Even with so little time, by the end of the play you feel for Max and Jenny because they're... Well, they're like us: People with a lifetime of experience.